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California experiences numerous bicycle accidents each year, even in areas designed to accommodate cyclists like San Francisco, Berkeley, and Davis. When drivers cause bicycle accidents, they may be held legally responsible for any injuries, losses, and damages they cause. Victims may do so through the civil court system.
The financial impact of bicycle accidents may also extend beyond immediate costs. Fatalities occur annually in the Bay Area, resulting in significant losses to families and communities. With San Francisco bicycle accidents often causing more than just physical injuries, you may be wondering about the true cost victims incur after they happen.
Real Stories Of Real Victims
The website Medium reports on the real stories of the lives lost to bicycle accidents right here in the Bay Area. These cases involve real individuals whose deaths in bicycle accidents affected their families, friends, and professional communities.
How Do You Put A Price On Human Life?
Fatal bicycle accidents can potentially create complex legal questions about how to pursue compensation for the loss of life. Wrongful death cases involve surviving family members who have suffered significant losses, including parents who have lost children, children who have lost parents, and spouses who have lost partners. These losses likely cannot be fully compensated through the claims process. However, surviving relatives may still find filing a wrongful death claim important to pursue accountability from the negligent party who caused the untimely passing of their loved one. This fact serves as a stark reminder to all drivers to be more careful on San Francisco roads.
Wrongful Death Claims
The California Wrongful Death statute specifies which surviving family members have the right to bring a wrongful death claim. It does not, however, determine the amount they may be able to pursue. So how does an attorney or claims adjuster value a wrongful death claim? First, there are tangible expenses that can be documented with receipts. Costs related to a funeral, burial, cremation, or memorial can all be factored into a wrongful death suit.
An attorney can help you document and submit these expenses to prove their value in the event of a dispute. The decedentโs lost wages may also be pursued in a wrongful death claim. An expert witness (usually an economist) can take the wages that the victim was earning at the time of their death and use that to project what the victim would have earned until retirement age.
The economist can also calculate the value of employment benefits, such as health insurance and employer contributions to a retirement account. The economist may then adjust for inflation and promotions. This course of action allows the expert witness to calculate an approximate value for the earnings that the victim would have earned between the time of the accident and when they would eventually retire.
Loss Of Consortium
As part of a wrongful death case, a surviving spouse may have a claim for โloss of consortium.โ Loss of consortium is a claim that refers to the intangible losses a spouse suffers as a result of a wrongful death. For example, a spouse might be deprived of love, companionship, and the physical intimacy of marriage. The defendant may have a legal obligation to compensate them for these losses, even if they cannot be easily valued. These damages are often considered real and can be an important element of a wrongful death claim. An attorney can present evidence and testimony to help a jury understand the profound impact of such a loss.
Surviving family members can work with a bicycle accident attorney who understands these losses and how to prove them to an insurance claims adjuster or jury. Some other states extend loss of consortium claims to parents and children. For example, a child deprived of parental guidance, affection, and additional critical emotional support may be eligible to seek this kind of non-economic damages. However, California law only recognizes loss of consortium claims for spouses.
Instead, other eligible surviving relatives may only be able to pursue compensation for documented losses (such as burial expenses and lost wages). The law does not provide a separate category of compensation for their emotional suffering in the way it does for a spouse’s loss of consortium claim.
Nonetheless, it may still be essential for parents and children to pursue wrongful death claims. Even if the damages are limited, these cases still serve a vital purpose. The negligent driver may be called to court to be held accountable for his or her actions. The surviving family members could get a measure of closure when pursuing a formal ruling of negligence or a limited award for their compensatory damages. Ultimately, the roads of California may also be made safer for cyclists if negligent drivers are brought to task for causing a fatal bike crash.
Personal Injury Claims
Of course, not all victims succumb to their injuries. Bike accident victims have the right to seek compensation for their injuries and losses. These include tangible losses, such as property damage to your bike or equipment. Tangible losses may also include your lost wages. Determining the sum of the lost wages is often a simple calculation of the hours you missed multiplied by your hourly rate of pay.
In cases of permanent disability, this calculation becomes more complicated because it will have to consider the permanent decrease in your earning potential. Expert witnesses (such as a vocational counselor or an economist) may be required to help prove the value of the permanent reduction of your earning potential. A defendant may also have a legal obligation to compensate you for all the medical bills you have incurred due to the accident.
Any bills from the ambulance service, an emergency department, a surgeon, an inpatient facility, medical consultations, diagnostic testing, and follow-up care with your primary care provider can also be included in your claim. If necessary for accident-related treatments, you may also be eligible to pursue compensation for rehabilitative services like physical therapy, occupational therapy, chiropractic services, and even speech therapy. Often, the value of these costs can be proven by simply adding up the total of the invoices you receive.
A defendant could also be required to pay for any future medical expenses you might incur due to your injuries. To prove these expenses, your attorney will likely have to hire medical and financial experts (such as life care planners) to establish what care may be required and how much it might cost. Victims with permanent disabilities may specifically be able to pursue more compensation for future medical expenses, as well as intangible losses such as pain and suffering, since their injuries are more likely to have a long-term impact on their quality of life.
In many cases, they may also need to make significant changes to their living environment, such as installing a wheelchair ramp, widening doorways, or adding an accessible shower, to accommodate their new needs and maintain their independence. There might also be ongoing medical care and treatment, and some victims might even need full-time in-home care. These tangible expenses can be substantial over a lifetime of care. Though every case is different, victims who require them may be able to factor related expenses into their claim for compensation.
Pain & Suffering
In the event of a wrongful death, a victimโs spouse may sue for their own pain and suffering in a loss of consortium claim. If a defendant is found liable, they may be required to compensate them for the pain and suffering sustained. โPain and sufferingโ is a broad term that covers many intangible losses.
First, it covers the physical pain and suffering that the victim might endure while recovering from injuries. This can potentially be significant, especially if the victim must undergo complex orthopedic surgery or painful physical therapy sessions. However, pain and suffering are not limited to physical injuries. Many accident victims suffer emotional injuries, as well. For example, cyclists might experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being hurt in a crash.
PTSD is a very real condition that affects many bicycle accident victims. A defendant may have a legal obligation to pay for medication or therapy to help manage the symptoms caused by the accident. Some losses are more difficult to see. Perhaps you had to give up your biking hobby altogether after being injured in an accident. Maybe you are permanently disabled and unable to hold your children or walk across the stage at your graduation ceremony.
These are genuine losses, but they can be challenging to quantify. As a result, an experienced San Francisco bicycle accident lawyer may consult outside experts to estimate and prove the value of these losses to a claims adjuster or, if necessary, to a jury.
San Francisco Bicycle Accident Lawyers Advocating For Injured Victims
Our bicycle injury lawyers in California at Arash Law offer experienced legal guidance to injured clients across the state. The personal injury attorneys at our firm can work closely with bicycle accident victims and their families in San Francisco, helping them understand the claims process and whether they can seek compensation.
We are ready to represent clients in San Francisco, Riverside, San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento, Sherman Oaks, and throughout California. Our bicycle accident lawyers have decades of combined experience negotiating settlements with insurance companies and can represent clients in court if necessary.
Our attorneys also work on a contingency fee basis. This means clients do not owe any attorney fees unless theyโre able to collect compensation. However, they may still be responsible for court costs or other case-related expenses, regardless of the outcome.
Call (888) 488-1391 to schedule your free initial consultation or contact us online at your convenience. We are dedicated to helping bicycle accident victims in San Francisco and across California learn about their legal options.
